The Question
and brought them out and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:30
To Be Saved – How would you answer the jailer’s question? Would you provide him with a typical, evangelistic sentence? Would you hand him a copy of the Four Spiritual Laws or invite him to come to church? Maybe you will have a different appreciation for the question if you know that it is not quite as it appears in this translation. In Greek, the question is Ti me dei poiein hina sozo. Literally, “What must I do that I may be saved?”
Notice a few things about this question. First, it is of the utmost urgency. It calls for an immediate answer. Pie in the sky bye and bye will simply not do. Heaven can wait. I need to be rescued right now! Second, see that the question is intimately personal. The answer must be my answer. A statement of the faith, a programmed plan or a theological discussion is useless. I don’t have time for that. Third, notice that the question asks for the absolutely necessary. “What must I do?” Don’t give me the supplementals. Give me what matters and only what matters. Next, in the Greek, is this little word hina. We don’t see it in the English, but it is important. It means, “in order that”. It is a word that indicates accomplishing purpose. But when it is used with the subjunctive (as it is here), it implies what is necessary to bring something about. You can think of this word as an exclamation point at the end of the sentence instead of a question mark. I must absolutely know exactly what is needed to bring about my rescue! And finally, the verb, sozo. You already know that it is in the subjunctive mood. Just like English, this means that the action may or may not happen. This jailer realizes that he might not get the answer he longs to hear and he is pleading for the truth. Sozo means “to save, to deliver, to make whole and to preserve from danger.” For the jailer, all of these apply. Unless these men tell him what he must know, he is in imminent danger, he will not be whole and he will certainly be lost, here and in the world to come.
Fortunately, Paul answers him – straight from the heart.
There are days, like today, when I hear this question shouting from my soul. The bye and bye hope of heaven just doesn’t relieve the discouragement of life here and now. The hope of glory is too far away for me to hold my breath. And I am not a desert father – one who can flee the corruption of this world in order not to go mad. I need rescue now! Today! At this moment! I need it straight from the heart. I know that these men, whom God has miraculously released unharmed, know the answer. But will they tell me?
It’s here in the words, somewhere, if I could only find it.
When this becomes your personal, intimate, immediate question, where do you go for the answer? Who’s your friend in need?
